Chronicles of Hero Chapter 1: Munak And Bongun

[Bloodbane]

Bongun And Munak

"Hey Joa,tell me a love story," I whispered upward to him, "And then you can leave me." The mid-day sun shone above us, filtered by one of Payon Forests' towering evergreens. He was a Gunslinger, and he was settled against the trunk.
I was a young merchant then, and I laid in his lap, trying to will a moment
to last for eternity.
"A love story, eh?" He looked down at me, then leaned his head back in
thought. "I only know sad ones, Kia. You don't want to hear any from me."
"What love stories aren't sad?" I asked, recalling. "Tell me one from your
childhood. You grew up in the village, right? You must know some."
"Hmmm...I know of one passed down to me from a friend, not really from my childhood."
"Which?"
"The story of Payon, back when it was the most powerful country in the
east.. And how it fell to ruin because of the Gods.. and beauty.. and love."
"Please tell me," I nudged him gently, sternly ignoring the urge to fall
back on other tactics to make him stay with me longer.
"It's the story of Munak, Bongun, and Sohee.."



Many years before Ragnarok, the kingdom of Payon reached from the southeast seas into the heart of Rune-Midgard. It was a prosperous country, with an honorable Emperor and Empress. However, the nobility of Payon were arrogant, and vowed to make the land of Payon so beautiful that the gods themselves would be jealous. They built spectacular pagodas, embellished with Gold and precious stones. They grew gardens of the most fragrant flowers and forests of majestic trees. Soon, even the homes of peasants were painted gorgeous colors instead of being built strong, and their gardens were full of flowers instead of crops. While the surface of this magnificent country shined with color and wealth, in reality the people were hungry and neglected, squandering all they had for the sake of beauty? beauty more astonishing than the halls of heaven.

This is when the Gods took notice.

He pauses for a second and passes his hand through his bangs while in thought.

Foreseeing the end of their powers in Ragnarok, the gods hastened to secure their influence into the world's heirs. It was this time that twin children were born to the Emperor and Empress of Payon, the Prince Bongun and Princess Munak. But on the day of their birth, the great fortuneteller prophesied a tragic end to their lives. So frightened by the prophesy were Emperor and Emperess, that they raised the two royal children in isolation, forbidding them to leave the castle's secure walls. But the two grew together as siblings and friends, never feeling lonely by each other's side.
They grew up surrounded by beautiful things and intelligent tutors, never
knowing sadness or want. Being twins, they felt deep affection for each
other, and vowed to be each other's protector. And in this way, Bongun grew to be a handsome young prince and unparalleled fencer, and Munak blossomed into a delicate but strong- willed princess.

But the two could not remain together forever. When the two became of age, Bongun was told he would soon marry a foreign Princess from the west , and Munak would be sent to the north to marry a foreign prince there. The two were heartbroken at the thought of separation, and jealous at the thought they the other may be happy in their coming marriage. For the first time in their sheltered lives, the felt sadness and want.

This is when the Gods made their move. "Let us capture the vulnerable heart
of the young Prince," they plotted. "We will possess the foreign princess
who is to wed Bongun, and through her, control the most magnificent country of the eastern world." And so they sent down a spirit to possess the innocent princess Sohee. Enchanted, she became more beautiful than any woman the nobility of Payon had seen? long hair, black as the night, framed her moon-white face, and her robes shone with the brilliance of the stars. She was truly a divine girl, thought the noblemen, too entranced by her beauty to notice the flame-red eyes she hid in the darkness. In their hearts, all of Payon, longed for true beauty to love and worship. And thus they were instantly seduced.

But the possessed beauty did not fool Munak or Bongun, for they knew of
different Beauty and Love than what the entire kingdom had been fooled with. Together, they had discovered inner beauty. For when they stared at the colors and brightness of the kingdom they were forbidden to experience, they had wept for each other, and vowed to renounce such shallow trappings. This is where Bongun's swordmanship began to develop, and Munak's inner strength to build. They encouraged each other, for they had no one else to encourage, and loved each other deeply as siblings, companions, and more... For they had no one else to love.

But they were helpless to stop the fate the Gods had set for them. Aware
they had not fooled the young heirs of Payon, the Gods ordered Sohee to
dispose of Munak, before she could give strength to Bongun, for they may
together reveal the possessed bride.

And in the darkness one night, Munak wept in her room alone, fighting to
give up her naive desires to rule Payon with her brother until their, or the
kingdom's, end. She grieved for her wasted dreams. But in a passion-confused state, she wrote of her love and her plans for their dream kingdom in a letter addressed to her brother, and hid it behind her portrait, hoping he would discover it one day far in the future. She then collapsed onto her bed, drained from the force of hopelessness.

But her beloved shared the torment. Not because they were twins, not because they were siblings, but because they were linked with one heart? such a heart sustained them, and could only existed with both their wills. And so when Munak wept, Bongun felt it, and rushed to her room to comfort his beloved sister.

Unbeknownst to them, a scarlet blade glinted in the moonlight, held by the
delicate fingers of a divine beauty. While the two embraced, weeping for
each other, lost in their despair of the future, the blade sank into the wrong victim, and claimed the prince's life immediately.



"Do you suppose love can be so betraying?"
"What do you mean, Kia? I'm not done the story yet."
"I mean the Prince and Princess... the one thing that sustained their lives
for each other... Also destroyed their chance for happiness in the future.."
"They loved each other, though. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Is it...? I wonder..."


The death of the young Prince brought the kingdom to ruin. Sohee had failed her mission, concluded the gods, and so she would return to who she once was. But before the spirit left her, she used her powers to convince the nobility that Munak killed her brother in a state of madness. Munak was
banished to the darkest caves, where she truly went mad with grief, and
began trying to rebuild her and her brother's kingdom in the deepest stone
caverns? an underground kingdom, perhaps built from the forbidden love of
siblings.

Sohee returned to a normal girl, and lived as the adopted princess of Payon,
while the Emperor and Empress grieved for their heirs. But one day, she
stalled over a moonlit lake hidden deep in the forest, and saw her
reflection lighted by the dark heavens. Her memories of the murderous deed
flooded back, and she drowned herself in the sparkling waters.

The nobility urged their royal leaders to continue with the kingdom's
beatification. And without substance to quell their hunger for beauty, they
continued to spend and build, until the days of Ragnarok came...

And so the spirits of the three haunt this remaining glimpse of what Payon
was. The forests... the caves..sometimes the village.. the grieved and
angered spirits of innocent lovers, innocent tools of the Gods are trapped
here by the love and grief they cannot let go of.




"Was that fate, then?"
"Of course it was fate, The Gods planned it all along."
"No... they planned to take over the kingdom through Sohee.. Was it fate
that the knife fell on Bongun and not Munak?"
"Why are you asking, Kia? It's just a story."
"A love story.."
"No..." he said defensively, shifting out from under me to stand. "It's just
a story. I told you a story, Kia. And so I'm leaving."
"Goodbye then," I said weakly, feigning nonchalance as I curled into a
sleeping position at the base of the evergreen.
"Good bye," he said. And with that, was gone.

Story thanks to Kiathe Joichirou, an old Ro Friend and co writer whom Gave me Permision.